


Belonging

by MynameisTyberia



Series: Malec One-Shots [4]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, because that's how i roll
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-05-20
Packaged: 2018-11-02 21:39:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10953234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MynameisTyberia/pseuds/MynameisTyberia
Summary: Magnus is home





	Belonging

**Author's Note:**

> Just a small ficlet while we're all waiting for the return of Shadowhunters

Alec hadn’t been overworking himself or anything like that, he just hadn’t exactly been getting his eight hours while he was staying at the Institute. He rarely got enough sleep anyway but the Institute just wasn’t a comfortable space. At all. The Institute just wasn’t the haven for Alec in the way it used to be. It reminded him of the whole ‘Jace is lost. You’re his parabatai. Find **_him_** ’ thing and the Institute was a place that reminded him of many negative and terrible memories. He was supposed to be the strong one. He was supposed to always be poised and perfect. If anything went wrong, it was him that would be in the wrong. Not Izzy. Not Jace. Not Clary.

Don’t get it twisted, Alec loved the Institute, but not because it offered him any comfort or support. Not anymore. It used to be the place that reminded him that he was safe. The Institute was a place that gave him a place of belonging. But now? He went there to train, he went there to prepare him for whatever Valentine decided to throw at him. He liked the Institute because it was some sort of family structure. It gave him some semblance of a routine; something that he could focus on instead of completely focusing on Magnus and what he was doing.

The Institute was a lot of things. But it wasn’t _home_.

Magnus. The loft. Magnus _and_ the loft was his home. Alec loved coming home to see Magnus fully involved in a book with Chairman Meow curled up in his lap. Magnus would be so involved with the book, that he wouldn’t hear Alec walk over to him but when he did eventually look up at Alec, Magnus would smile and that one, tiny smile would brighten up everything. Some days Alec would come home and Magnus would be sleeping on the sofa, probably exhausted from whatever client decided to dominate his time with, curled up and snoring gently. On those days, Alec would always, _always_ , find the softest blanket and drape it over him.

The loft and Magnus were Alec’s safety blanket.

***

The second Alec walks into Magnus’ loft, he can feel every single ache in his body. Magnus is curled on the sofa, book sitting atop his lap. The picture before him makes something within Alec snap. He doesn’t stop his body from collapsing in on itself. He can hear Magnus’ distant shout of confusion, but he’s just so _tired_. But before he feels the carpet beneath him, Magnus is there, scooping Alec up in his arms. Alec can feel his mouth open and he knows that he wants to tell Magnus to leave him be, but Magnus is very quick to shush him.

Just before Alec loses himself to the siren call of sleep, he thinks of Magnus. He thinks of _home_.


End file.
